The Foolish O’man
September 9, 2008Me and guo shu decided to visit SAM after National Day Celebrations to look for some art works so that we could write an essay about it. so anyway i chose ”The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains” by Xu Beihong. I think its quite an interesting piece of work, and not to mention that the size of it almost made my jaw drop. also, i think that Xu Beihong is a really cool and patriotic guy too. If only i were half as patriotic as him ><
Painting: The Foolish Old Man who Removed The Mountains Done by: Xu Beihong
Background Information about Xu Beihong
Xu Beihong is widely recognized as the father of modern Chinese painting, both for his innovative ink works that did much to revitalize the traditional Chinese form and for his willingness to embrace Western techniques, particularly French Realism. He had an immense influence on the development of Chinese painting in the 20th century because he championed an expansive realism that included Romanticism and Expressionism. As a patriot, Xu helped to bolster Chinese morale during the Second Sino-Japanese War, subtly working anti-Japanese themes into paintings done during those years, especially between 1939 and ‘41, when he was the height of his career and traveling throughout Southeast Asia and India hosting well-received shows. Despite being away from his country physically, he never forgot China…
The Foolish Old Man who Removed The Mountains
Drawn in Darjeeling, India in 1940, “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains” is the largest-size painting produced by Xu Beihong. This painting is based on the story of Beichan Yugong from the classic work Liezi. In the story, the old man decided to remove the two mountains in front of his house. Although ridiculed as a folly, the old man resoned that if his sons and grandsons persevered in the task, the mountains would be removed eventually. When God learnt of the old man’s determination, he was so moved that he ordered that the mountains be moved. This story is important for Xu as he wanted to use it as a metaphor to praise Chinese efforts in resisting Japanese aggression at the time. This painting was his way of encouraging the Chinese people in the anti-Japanese efforts, and his hope for them to persist in the face of adversity. During his visit to India, Xu was much moved by the flora and fauna of the Indian subcontinent and produced many views of its landscapes, particularly the Himalayas. But from this painting that was done during his stay there, one can tell that China was never far from his mind.
“The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains” by Xu Beihong was painted in a realistic manner by adding many intricate details, and the forms were mostly carefully modeled. The human figures are outlined by a bold black line, and together with the colour shades, Xu gave the painting a 3 dimensional effect, and the lines used are sinuous and flowing. Composition wise, Xu had discarded the strict composition characteristic of classical Chinese paintings and instead opted for a more complex composition. There is also a fixed-point perspective in this painting. Colours used are also mostly earthly and naturalistic, showing not much deviation from realism.
In the foreground, 6 strong men with tanned skin are working on the mountain, and either holding or raising up chankuls – they all seem to be hard at work. Out of the 6 men, 5 are young, strong and well-built, while the last one is fat and slightly older. He is wearing a piece of cloth, also known as sari, which clearly portrays the Indian influence in Xu’s artwork. In the middle ground there are 2 fat man are carrying baskets made of rattan, and inside these rattan baskets contain radishes. The elephant here also shows clear influence by the Indian’s culture, as elephants are often used in India for helping out with manual labour. However, the grass here is painted in a Chinese ink style, as it is given a very light tone. There is also a girl on a buffalo cart, and here, the Chinese culture is portrayed, as while Indian’s often use elephants to help out, Chinese usually use buffaloes to help out in the fields. The type of clothes worn by the girl also depicts clearly the Chinese lifestyle. In the background, it is mostly bamboos shoots and vast plains that are painted in Chinese ink style, and they seem to be fading away. However, this painting does not only portray influences by Indian culture, the well blended skin tones of the men also show western influences.
References: http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/xu-beihong-in-nanyang
